


With dreams of pink unicorns

by 3White_Mage3



Category: The Losers - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-07
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 17:15:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/915909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3White_Mage3/pseuds/3White_Mage3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another episode in the wonder which is Cougar's and Jake's relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With dreams of pink unicorns

**Author's Note:**

> Still learning the lingo but I'm pretty sure this one qualifies as drabble.  
> No intent to harm or offend anyone so relax, everyone keeps the same rights -- legal and otherwise -- they woke up with this morning.  
> Hope you enjoy. These 2 are my favorite couple because the connection makes so much sense and because of the way they complement each other so completely.

When the call came to Jake from his sister that his niece, Bekka, had fallen from a tree and was being rushed to the hospital, it was fortunate that the team was fairly close, at a facility in Virginia instead of somewhere ending with "stan". "It's bad, Jakey, I can tell," Jessie had said.

After reassuring his sister that he was on the way and ending the call, Jensen turned to Cougar and asked the sniper to get to the motor pool and requisition a vehicle while he sought out Clay to request the necessary emergency leave. With a quick hug and words murmured directly into Jake's ear that everything will be all right, Cougar was off across the compound.

With the hacker more frenetic in usual standing in front of him going on at length about the reasons he had to go even though he knew the team was being made ready to be deployed to some "freezing ass armpit of a shithole somewhere in goddamned Siberia," Clay knew he had little choice but to grant the emergency leave. Sure, he could focus on his short term needs and deny the request, but he hadn't gotten to be the leader of what had become one of the most grudgingly respected special ops team in the forces without understanding a bit about both psychology and the long term. He had been working alongside Jake long enough to know that the techie would be near-useless to the team in a very short period of time as worry, way too much of the sugar and caffeine that the hacker used to deal with stress in situations like this, and sleeplessness took their inevitable toll. Even worse, he knew he couldn't refuse the request that Cougar be allowed to accompany Jake. If he did, the sniper would be at half optimal performance at best worrying about his partner.

Clay understood how close the sniper had gotten to Jake's family over the past year and a half or so. He also fully understood – although he tried not to dwell on this particular point too much, at least when given the chance – how intertwined his sniper and communications specialist had become. The two men’s lives were now interconnected to the point where the rest of the team didn't waste too much time on differentiating between the two. To the point where even Roque had gotten wise to the fact that interposing himself bodily between the two men – even with several feet of distance on either side – was the fastest way to trigger a physical confrontation with a very intimidating, growling honorary member of the cat family. Cougar allowed no one to get between Jake and himself.

Ever since Jensen had come “bouncing”, to hear Roque tell it disgustedly, in to become a member of their team a little over two years ago Clay had watched as the two men slowly attached themselves to the other, almost like two planets caught in each other's gravity with their orbits synching more and more over time. What had started as being in physical proximity to each other had become being in physical contact with each at every opportunity. Nothing overt, nothing that would raise too many eyebrows on base – and if any eyebrows were raised Cougar was quick to stomp on it before Jake was even aware. Just things like Jake with his hand on Cougar's shoulder as often as possible and sometimes, especially when they were off-base, the sniper's finger hooked in the belt loop at the back of his partner's pants. No member of the team had even commented on the fact that they all soon became aware that Jensen's bed in his and Cougar’s room on base always appeared exactly the way it had the day before and that it never, ever required clean sheets.

After a quick, intense exchange with Cougar as to why he should do the driving overnight since he was too worried to sleep anyway, the sniper made sure that his novio hadn't forgotten yet again to buckle his seat belt and the couple headed north. Once out on the freeway the Mexican man took his companion's right hand in both of his own and drifted off to sleep knowing his role over the next days would one of being quietly solid for Jake and his sister, the human foundation which kept the hacker just this side of sanity.

At about 6 am and after an abbreviated attempt by the nurse at the front desk to stop what appeared to be a wild-eyed, tall, blonde man and only after Cougar had used his patented menacing glare to abort an attempt by the nurse to call security, Jessie came rushing up to grab both men and hug them close as she dragged them down the hall to Bekka's room. With Cougar still glaring toward the front desk, Jessie explained that Bekka had been rushed into emergency surgery during the night to relieve growing pressure on her brain from the trauma to her head but that the little girl had been returned to her hospital bed an hour or so ago and was, according to all indications, resting comfortably with a positive outlook for a full recovery in time.

A day or so later, Jessie took Cougar aside in the hospital’s waiting room and asked whether he could do something to get Jake away, if even for only a few hours. "He needs to rest," she pleaded. "He's more strung out and exhausted than I am and the doctor is threatening to throw his ass into treatment for Red Bull abuse if he doesn't slow down on the caffeine and sugar. The hospital staff has offered to fix me up a cot in Bekka's room so I can sleep for a few hours but the offer is contingent upon Jake leaving and not coming back for at least 12 hours. Can you help me here?" 

When her brother's partner signaled his assent, Jessie suggested that Cougar take Jake to the carnival currently in town, one that included a House of Unicorns that she and Bekka had themselves planned on visiting. Jake would love it, the sniper knew, and it seemed just the thing to maybe put a smile back on his lover’s face.

After intense negotiations, considerable threats and pleading, and myriad offers of bribes to come, the two men arrived at the carnival set up in the parking lot of an out-of-business shopping mall on the outskirts of town. Paying the small admission fee they went in search of the corn dogs and cotton candy that had been part of the bribe to get Jake to leave the hospital even for a short period of time. The fair wasn't filled with as many people as Cougar would have expected but they both enjoyed strolling among the booths and among the various rides. The sniper took the greatest joy of all in watching his lover's face slowly relax with the beginnings of a smile – the first one to make an appearance since that phone call two days ago. To neither man's surprise but to a carnie's great agitation, Cougar set a record at the shooting gallery and claimed a stuffed unicorn as his prize for Jake. Unfortunately, there weren't any pink ones but the orange creature with blue polka dots still caused his love to beam with happiness.

Shortly thereafter they found the big tent with the sign out front announcing the House of Unicorns that Jessie had mentioned. The barker at the ticket stand tried to deny them entrance, muttering something below his breath about potential child molesters, until Cougar removed his hand from its supportive position at the small of Jake's back long enough to help the man understand his mistake and issue the two tickets.

Upon entering the surprisingly cavernous space, Cougar's eyes saw a number of projectors throwing moving swirls of brightly colored suns, moons, and stars against the tent walls and ceiling while what were –to him – obviously small shetland ponies strolled around. Each “unicorn” with a gold-painted horn strapped to its forehead and hair dyed some mind-numbing pastel color from powder blue to lavender to pink. Jake, however, froze in place just inside the entrance and seemed content to simply soak in the visual cacaphony. Given his boyfriend's sudden cessation of motion AND chatter, Cougar knew in a second that this had been the right decision.

Some distance away the carnival's business director was in his trailer with his head in his hands bemoaning the recession as the reason ticket sales were so disappointing when two of the workers from the House of Unicorns came into his office. They let him know that the ticket seller at that tent had reported that two men had entered the House several hours ago but still had not exited, even though closing time had passed some time ago. When the two staff had gone in to check on the situation, they found the two visitors cuddled up together in the middle of the tent. Swearing to himself about "fuckin' fairies and goddamned unicorns," the carnival manager grabbed his handgun from the top drawer of his desk and, motioning for the workers to follow, headed toward the big tent with the swirling lights.

Upon entering the tent and stopping to let his eyes adjust to the light show within, the business director's eyes were drawn toward what appeared to be a pile of tarps and other materials pulled together in the middle of the space. On it were two men lying side by side, hand in hand, staring up at the ceiling, right about where a bright yellow Saturn was slowly spinning on its axis. Just as he was about to lurch forward with his gun in his hand, one of the staff members grabbed the boss's arm and pulled him back, "Either someone is aiming a laser pointer at your forehead or you have a sniper targeting you right between the eyes". Quickly deciding to himself that "this so isn't worth it" and knowing that he couldn't risk another situation with the local police, the business director snarled out, "Just leave the freaks be, but let me know when they've gone" and left, pulling the other two men behind.

Out under the lights and on their pile of tarps, Cougar let the hand with the gun it fall back down as pulled Jake closer to settle him under his arm. The quiet man cradled his companion close as Jake regained his wonder-struck look and went back to his monologue about the unicorns surrounding them. "And that one's name is Gladys. The blue says he's Norman. The pink one says she comes from a long line of Priscillas..." Cougar just listened.

After a time, the hacker's voice began to slow as he slowly drifted off to much-needed sleep. Part of Cougar's mind stayed focused on scanning the tent for any sounds or signs of potential trouble while the majority of his brain reoriented itself on stroking, ever so gently and lovingly, the blonde curls on the head on his shoulder. The head of the man who, to him, would forever represent all the suns, moons and stars in the universe.


End file.
